


Home is where the heart is.

by Merelina



Category: Death Stranding (Video Games)
Genre: M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:22:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22016305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merelina/pseuds/Merelina
Summary: Sam isn't good with words, so he has to find another way to show his Deadman how much he loves him. So, with the help of their friends, he prepares the surprise of a lifetime. Home is where heart is, right?
Relationships: deadsam
Comments: 1
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Deadman and Sam have been in a steady relationship for over 6 years now, raising Lou together. 
> 
> And yes I know I haven't described what Sam's workshop looks like, because this was about Deadman's surprise. In short: it's a workshop where he can work on his vehicles and porter-things. There is also a place where he can create his toys for Lou.
> 
> Also: the lab equipment names are shamelessly googled and I'm sorry if this makes someone cringe at my stupidity in this lol. Come scream at me on Tumblr (RuinerofCheese) and I'll correct it!
> 
> Final disclaimer: I am not responsible for the cavities this tooth-rotting fluff may cause. Read at your own risk.

To say Sam wasn't good with words, would be an understatement. Deadman has been telling him "I love you" for the past 5 years now, and he hasn't returned the words once. It's not that he doesn't love his Deadman, he does. More than anything, really. Well, no. That title is reserved for Lou. But Deadman was right up there as well, but not... *Sigh* let's just say Sam loves him a lot, he just doesn't know how to say it. He's more of an action kind of guy.

He'd rather show how much he cares then say it. Bringing little things home as gifts. Taking the long road home to pick up something he knows his man will love. Taking shortcuts that could easily get him killed (it has. Multiple times. Just don't tell Deadman that), just so he can hear him say:

"Hey! You're home a day early!"

Things like that, show Deadman how much he cares.

However, lately they've been ridiculously busy with the outbreak of some disease. Deadman is working day and night to find a cure, while Sam is portering medicine all over the map. Both are short on sleep and when they do see each other in their private room, they fall asleep almost instantly. Neither of them see Lou much, who is staying with Mama Lockne, which is not really good for their mood either. It's a hectic time.

Thanks to Deadman's hard work, they find a cure and soon the crisis is averted. On Sam's last medicine run, he has a long way back to think about how he'll surprise his man. To really, really show how much he cares for, admires and truly, madly loves his man, he's got to come up with something.... something big and special and just for him. Suddenly, an idea pops in his head, that has him stopping so fast, his cargo almost slides over his head.

The next thing he does, is call their friends and share his idea, because he is most definitely going to need their help.  
They all jump at the opportunity and come to his help. Mama Lockne visit Deadman in his lab, to sneakily find out what equipment he likes best and what he wants done differently.  
Fragile finds everything for Sam's workshop.  
Heartman is in charge of finding the right interior and Die-hardman orders everything they send requests for, under a top secret government tag, so Deadman won't find out.

And Sam? First he finds the perfect spot, and then he porters everything to said perfect spot.

Again Sam is really busy for a couple of weeks, and Deadman misses his man.  
So when Sam is finally done with running errands, he suggests to Deadman to take a day off together. Just a day to spend with the three of them, go outside, get some fresh air.

"Trust me" he says "I know a great spot, not far from here"  
Deadman smiles in return: "That sounds great, Sammy"

And so they go, in the truck up the mountain, until they find themselves in front of a wooden cabin, with large windows overlooking the valley below. When Sam stops the truck, Deadman says: "Sam, there's smoke coming out of the chimney. Someone lives here. We're trespassing, we should go."  
Sam just keeps walking towards the house, Lou dancing beside him.  
"Sam stop. We can't just..."  
"They're expecting us." Sam replies with one of his half smiles, and now Deadman knows he's up to something.   
"Saaaaam?"  
No reply.  
"What did you do? What have you got up your sleeve?"  
No reply.  
"Sam... I'm not good with surprises. Please?"  
Still no reply, but for Sam grabbing his hand with a smile on his face.

They're in front of the door now, and Sam gestures to him to open the door. With a sigh he does. He really doesn't like surprises, but for his Sammy he opens the door anyway. Behind the door is a small hallway with a door in front of him. It opens onto a large living room with a kitchen. A fire is burning in the fireplace in the center of the room. And the large windows they saw from the outside have a huge comfortable couch in front of them.  
"Sam, whose house is this?"  
Sam, holding Lou on his arm, comes up close behind him and whispers:  
"Ours."  
"Ha. Ha." Deadman says, turning around with a raised eyebrow of disbelief. "Seriously, who lives here?"  
"We do. It's ours. It's our home."  
Deadman stares at Sam's face. Would Sam really mean it?   
"Sam, tell me the truth, because if that was a joke..."  
"No joke. This is our home now."

Tears come to Deadman's eyes, tears of happiness. "Oh Sam... I..." His words fail him, and he wraps his arms around his Sam and their sweet little Lou.

"This is... ours?" he mumbles in Sam's chest, which earns him a small chuckle.

"Yes, all of it"  
He looks up and stares at Sam. There are do many things flying around in his head, he doesn't know where to start. He settles on saying the most important thing:

"Good god, I love you."  
Little 6 year old Lou replies: "I love you too papa" and they laugh.

  
He takes another look around him.  
"Wait, where are we going to sleep?"  
"You want to show your bedroom, Lou?"  
Lou takes his hand, and pulls him towards a door, with stairs behind them. The steps lead down into a hallway, with two doors on the right side, and one door on the left. Lou leads him to the first door on the right, and behind it is a nice room with light and happy colours on the walls. It has pictures of butterflies and drawings of cats. Her favourite toy, the lion Higgs created and sent to kill her dad (she didn't know that, to her it was just a cute kitty cat.), was proudly standing on her nightstand.  
"Oh Lou, I love it! It's really your place isn't it!" he said, and judging by the happy and proud look on her face, she agreed. She starts playing with her favourite doll, a gift from an unknown person. It had a gold and black dress that reminded Sam all too much of Higgs, but when he tried to throw it away, Lou got very cross with him and had started crying. And so the doll stayed and became Lou's favourite.

  
Now it was Sam's turn to take his hand and lead him away, into the hallway again. They past a door on his left, but Sam tells him to keep that one for last and instead leads him to the last door on his right.  
"This is our place" Sam told him as he pushed the door open. The room was a little larger than Lou's room, but it had the same lightness to it; Soft colours on the walls, and all around really. The bed was big and soft, so unlike their too small, bunkbed-like cot in their private room in Capital Knot. It was covered in fluffy pillows and soft bedding, and Deadman immediately rolled himself onto it, pulling Sam down with him.  
"Sam..."  
"Hmmm?"  
"Oh... I cannot even start to describe how much I love you. I know you can't say those words, but this tells me infinitely more about how much you love me than any simple three words."

He sighed happily, holding Sam close to him, who just grunted his agreement and nuzzled him. After a while however,  
"Don tyou wanjdjrfv gcdfb rooms?" he mumbled into Deadman's body.  
A little giggle escaped Deadman.

"I'm assuming you said 'don't you want to see the other rooms'?"  
Sam nodded, and tried to get up, but couldn't.   
"Not just yet. Five seconds more, Sammy"  
He felt Sam smile against his body.  
After a minute or so more, they finally got up and after showing the attached bathroom, they went to the door on the other side of the hallway.

"Close your eyes"  
"No Sam, please I hate surprises."  
"Please trust me. You'll love it, promise"  
"Don't use those puppy eyes on me Sammy. You know it's working" he pretend-scolded Sam with a smile, and he closed his eyes.  
Sam gently lead him inside the room and when they were in the middle of it:  
"Open them"

  
At first he didn't realize what he was seeing, different sort of machinery, equipment and screens lined the walls and counters. But then he recognised an immunoassay. And a centrifuge, and a hemotology analyzer, and and and... There was so much to see he just stared, mouth open, his eyes wide, his fingers pointing at things, mumbling their names. This lab had everything his medical professional heart could possibly want. It was... wait, it was his! Right?  
He turned around with tears in his eyes.

"This is mine?" He asked, just to be certain. Sam nodded, a smile on his face.  
"Oh Sam!" He flung himself at Sam and kissed him hard. A string of 'I love yous' followed as they stood, forehead to forehead, having Sam grinning from ear to ear.  
"You've seen only half of it!"  
"Um what? What do you mean, half of it?"  
In the wall, on his right was a set of sliding doors, that Sam nodded his head towards.  
"What..." But he knew he wouldn't get an answer, even if he managed to make a sentence at the moment.

He pushed the button on the side of the doors and they quickly hissed open. Another lab, the same size as the first lay before him. This one a scientific lab. A mass spectrometer and several other identifying machinery lined these walls, as well as several flow reactors and analyzers. A large fume hood could be seen, next to several screens.  
"Sam... This is really... I'm at a loss for words" he finally whispered. His hands rested in a counter top with an electron microscope on it.  
"It's all I ever wanted" he whispered.

There were tears on his face, and overwhelmed by it all he almost fell as he stepped towards Sam. Sam, of course caught him and held him close.  
They stood there, in the middle of the lab, no words spoken, but the language between them was enough. Arms around each other, Sam's chin against his forehead, they knew. They knew how much the other cared for them. Loved them. Would do anything for them. They knew. There was nothing else in that moment, than feeling the other man's love. It filled up the lab, the bedrooms the stairway, and the room upstairs, making it truly and absolutely their home.  
The only sounds Deadman heard were Lou, playing in her room and Sam's steady heartbeat close to his ear.

  
After a while, a door opened somewhere upstairs, and they let go with a smile.  
Voices could be heard from upstairs, and Lou's little feet were climbing the stairs, followed by a loud squeel of "heartman yaaay!" followed by a "mama Lockne hug!" and a "Johny!" (Only Lou could ever call the president Johny and get away with it) and finally an "auntie frage-frage".  
The men in the lab smiled at each other and walked hand in hand up the stairs.  
"God I hope they're not fucking down there" was heard right before they opened the door.  
"Not yet, heartman. We'll wait until you're gone" Sam replied, a grin on his face.

Everyone laughed, heartman slightly embarrassed.

They sat at the table with their friends, who brought food and housewarming gifts. They laughed and cried , shared stories, ate way too much food, drank entirely too much, enjoyed Lou's wondrous stories and each others company, through the afternoon, and far into the evening. It was long after Lou fell asleep on "Johny's" lap, and Sam had carried her downstairs to her bed, that their friends eventually left. They were all slightly tipsy, and said goodbyes with lots of giggles and hugs, even though Sam still disliked them from anyone but Lou and Deadman.

Finally, finally, they were alone. They stood in their living room and kissed and kissed and kissed. When they were out of breath, they turned off the lights and walked to their bedroom, every now and then stopping for a kiss against a wall. Somewhere along the way, their clothes got lost and they arrived in their bedroom, throwing down their last pieces of clothing. They made love. Fast and needy at first, but slowing down after the first few times.  
In the end, Deadman was the only one awake and he stared at the face of the man sleeping next to him. Too tired to move much, he traced his finger over Sam's face, finally let his hand rest on his chest. He put his head close to Sam's heart and as he felt himself drift off to sleep, his last thought was

"I am home"


	2. Groundplans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I like drawing groundplans, sue me.


End file.
